THINK 41: The Conscious Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Consciousness, Memory, and Personal Identity
How do our common-sense conceptions of the mind and of ourselves hold up against the growing body of psychological and neurobiological knowledge of the brain? How is your mental life anchored to your physical self?nYou wake up from a dreamless sleep and suddenly everything's buzzing with color and sound. Somehow your brain sustains this rich landscape of experience, integrating it with a repertoire of memories to constitute yourself. This course probes the neurobiological bases of these familiar yet miraculous facets of the mind. You'll learn to analyze primary philosophical and scientific texts, using basic knowledge of the brain to assess and even innovate experiments that could shed light on the nature of consciousness and personal identity.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-SMA
THINK 45: Thinking About the Universe: What do we know? How do we know it?
What is the origin and ultimate fate of the universe? Can we know what came before the universe? Are there ultimate limits to human knowledge about the universe and are we reaching them? Cosmology (the study of the universe) raises profound questions about us, our place in the universe, and about the limits of our knowledge. It was only in the 20th century that cosmology developed from metaphysical and theological speculation to become an observational science and a recognized part of physics. In this course, students will explore questions about the Universe, its beginnings, its structure, its extent, its fate, from several perspectives - philosophical, experimental, and theoretical. We will discuss current research and the ongoing debates about the laws of nature on subatomic scales and the perplexing questions they raise regarding the universe and the limits of scientific inquiry.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Betre, K. (PI)
;
Chaudhri, R. (PI)
;
Graham, P. (PI)
...
more instructors for THINK 45 »
Instructors:
Betre, K. (PI)
;
Chaudhri, R. (PI)
;
Graham, P. (PI)
;
Michelson, P. (PI)
;
Park, M. (PI)
;
Ryckman, T. (PI)
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